Tamiya JS-2, part 2 – diorama

I started to work on the diorama for my JS-2 tank. I wanted to keep it small and simple, but as always I got carried away a bit, adding lots of details in the rubbles. The scene is supposed to take place right after the fall of Berlin.

I had a white plastic wedding cake column in my parts bin (leftover from some wargaming terrain I did a while ago). I decided to use this in the diorama as a way to suggest the destruction of fine german classical architecture. A library? A bank? Who knows…

Still, something was missing to really coin it. This small diorama had to evoque the fall or Berlin (and I didn’t want to use another nazi flag, as I did in this other diorama). So I sculpted a nazi eagle emblem, the kind of wich was afixed to many building facades in large german cities during the 3rd Reich. I used Apoxy sculpt and fine tools (including a needle) to sculpt, and did it while listening to an audio book of H.P. Lovecraft novels.

I know. No link. But somehow the combination of sculpting and listening to cosmic horror stories is really relaxing for the brain 🙂

Anyway, enjoy the pics for now: I’ll be painting all this and posting the results in early 2019.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Strips of cork. I cut them in small “bricks”, sanded the edges and glued them one by one. I took A LONG TIME! But the end result is very good.

The plastic column was butchered with a rotary tool…

I used epoxy putty to fill the hollow parts. With a saw, I also scribed the horizontal lines, to add a touch of realism.

More expoxy putty work.

The cock pavement is completed. I test fit the elements…

Work is started on the nazi eagle (Apoxy Sculpt).

The cobblestone is grouted with drywall compound.

With a heated needle, I made some holes on the column. I then used my X-Acto to carve around the holes to simulate bullet impacts on the stone.

Various debris are then glued to the base using white glue and wood filler.

The debris, from another angle.

The finished eagle. When it will be painted, I plan to but a chain near it to suggest that it might have being torn from the facade…

Again , the rubbles: bits of cork, styrofoam, pieces of wood, a some plastic bits.

Top view.

Test fitting the JS-2. The miniatures are to be repainted (I don’t like the green of their uniforms)